House Painting Tips for Beginners

A common phrase that is sometimes used to describe the painting of a house is "giving it a new lick of paint". This makes the job sound like it can be done quickly and with minimal effort. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Painting a house—or even one room, for that matter—is a big job that requires research, planning, preparation, time, tools and skills. Here are some house painting tips for beginners that can help you finish your project successfully.

Color Selection

The first step in the process is choosing a color. This involves researching the various trends and deciding on the type of look that you want for the room. Make sure you consider the fixtures, fittings, and furniture while you are doing this: the color and style of the light switches, the color of the chairs in the room, the type of light fittings you have, etc.

Once you have decided on a look, get samples of a few different colors that you think might work and bring them home. Use a part of the wall that you can easily cover up and apply the sample so that you can see it in real life. A color wheel from the manufacturer will not tell you how the color matches the other things in your room, your lighting, and the size of the room.

Once you have the sample sections applied, check them over a couple of days in different lighting conditions. Then you can decide which one you like best.

Preparation

The next step in painting a room is the preparation. Anyone who has any painting experience will know that this part of the process takes about as long as the painting itself.

You will need to do preparation, whether you are painting the house yourself, or you are getting in a local painting contractor to do it for you. If you are getting someone else to do the painting work, the preparation will involve ensuring they have enough supplies, that your furniture is removed from the room, and that your floor is covered. Some painters will do this for you, but it is always best to make sure.

If you are doing the painting yourself, you will need to buy supplies including paint brushes, filler, a putty knife, cloths, masking tape, paint pots, a roller tray and gloves. You will then need to prepare the walls. This starts by dusting them and cleaning any particularly dirty patches with water. After, you should scrape off any flaking paint and fill out any holes in the wall with filler and a putty knife. Once the holes are filled, sand the area down to make it smooth.

Finally, cover anything that you don't want to get paint on, such as light fittings and sockets.

Painting

If you are the one painting, you will need a paintbrush and a roller. The paintbrush is for painting the corners of walls and where the walls meet the ceilings. The roller is then used to paint the rest of the wall. When rolling, use a vertical action, and use an extension pole for higher areas, rather than reaching or bending. Finally, use a paint pot for dipping your brush into rather than the can that the paint came in. You'll minimize the mess you make this way.